Covid cases across the globe crossed 16.31 crore; 33.83 lakh death

NEW YORK: Coronavirus cases rise unabated across the globe with 161,818,233 infected by the deadly contagion. While 140,652,101 have recovered, 3,358,164 have died so far. The US remains the worst-hit country with 33,625,697, followed by India, Brazil, France and Turkey. However, in the past seven days, India has added the highest number of fresh cases at 2,631,980, followed by the Brazil (425,222) and US (264,741).

Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowed to accelerate Britain's vaccination programme, reducing the gap between doses for the vulnerable, to try to contain a fast-spreading variant first detected in India.

India recorded 343,144 fresh Covid-19 infections on Friday, taking the caseload tally to 24,046,809, according to MoHFW. Deaths from the virus surged by 4,000 to hit 262,317 in total. The government on Thursday said the virus may emerge again and so preparations have to be made at the national level in collaboration with states. V K Paul, Member (Health), Niti Aayog, said over two billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines will be made available in the country in five months between August and December, enough to vaccinate the entire population. He added that the Russian Covid vaccine Sputnik V is also likely to be available by next week.